Breast pockets for brassieres



April 14, 1959 J. VERREAULT BREAST POCKETS FOR BRASSIERES Filed Sept. '7, 1956 United tates Patent BREAST POCKETS FOR BRASSIERES Joseph Verreault, Quebec, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Dominion Corset Company Limited, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Application September 7, 1956, Serial No. 608,551

2 Claims. (Cl. 128483) This invention relates to brassieres and more particularly to improvements in the control of the breast pockets so as to produce a contour moulding effect along the inner edges of said breast pockets.

A particular object of this invention is to provide a pair of breast pockets with breast contour moulding bands secured along the inner marginal enges of said pockets, each of said breast contour moulding bands being connected at its upper end to one shoulder strap together with the upper end of its associated breast pocket and at its lower end to the base of the opposing breast pocket adjacent the inner edge thereof, whereby tension applied at the base of said opposing breast pocket applies an independent contour moulding pressure along the inner margin of the associated pocket.

Another object is to provide a free overlapping arrangement of the said breast contour moulding bands in which only their lower edges are connected to the base of an opposing breast pocket but without being directly connected to each other.

Still another object is to provide each breast contour moulding band With an elasticity in the general longitudinal direction thereof by means of which a clinging effect is maintained by each moulding band about the breast contour when tension is applied thereto from the base of the opposing breast pocket.

The above and other objects and characteristic features of this invention will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a brassiere embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the brassiere shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view showing the overlapping arrangement of the breast contour moulding hands before they are secured to the brassiere of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view detailing the composition of each of the bands shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an exaggerated view taken along the section line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is an exaggerated view taken along the section line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the brassiere comprises a pair of breast pockets 5 and 6 attached along their lower edges to a front waist band 7, as indicated at 8, and body encircling side panels 9 secured along their front edges to the outer side edges of breast pockets 5 and 6. Side panels 9 are provided at their free rear ends (not shown) with suitable fastening elements for securing the brassiere about the wearer.

A triangular breast contour moulding band 10 of flexible elastic material extends along the length of and is secured along its inner side 11 to the inner edge of breast pocket 5. A second breast contour moulding band 12 of flexible elastic material extends along the length of and is secured along its inner side 14 to the inner edge of breast pocket 6.

As will be seen, particularly in Fig. 4, the breast contour moulding bands 10 and 12 are formed from a strip of elastic material to provide two elongated slightly concave side edges 16 and 17 on either side of a central fold line 15, said marginal side edges 16 and 17 tapering towards the upper end. The lower end of said strip tapers abruptly from the side edges 16 and 17 respective ly, towards the lowerTendof fold line 15, as indicated at 18 and 19, the end 19' being recessed with respect to the end 18 so that when the strip is folded along the line 15, the end 18 will extend below the end 19, as indicated in Fig. 3, forming in effect a lower marginal extension or tab.

The strips when folded along the fold line 15 will provide substantially triangular breast contour moulding bands 10 and 12, including a substantially straight outer elongated side defined by the fold line 15, a slightly concave inner elongated side (11) or (14) defined by the lapping edges 16 and 17 of the strip, and a short lower end 20 inclined between the outer and inner sides.

The triangular bands 10 and 12 are arranged with respect to one another, as shown in Fig. 3, so that their outer sides 15 are directed inwardly and with intermediate portions freely crossing so that the lower portion of one extends beyond the lower portion of the other with their lower ends 20 extending outwardly from each other along a common horizontal plane. The said intermediate portion of contour moulding band 10 overlies the said intermediate portion of contour moulding band 12.

As previously stated the inner side 11 of contour moulding band 10 is secured along the length of the innerside of breast pocket 5. contour moulding band 10 is secured adjacent the upper edge of the front waist band 7 to the lower edge portion of breast pocket 6 inwardly of the contour moulding band 12. As will be seen in Fig. 5, the double-ply contour moulding band 10 freely overlies the double-ply breast pocket 6 except at their lower edges. The lower tab portion 18 is wrapped around the bottom edge to lie against the inner side of pocket 6. A marginal tape 22 covers the tab portion 18 which extends up the inner side of pockets 6 and these are secured together by a double row of stitching 23, the lower row of which also extends down to the front waist band 7 and jointly secures the lower overlapping edges of the contour moulding band 10 and breast pocket 6 to said waist band. The provision of a single tab portion 18 for folding over'lsubstantially reduces the thickness offthe breast pocket beneath the marginal tape 22.

Similarly, the inner side 14 of contour band 12 is secured along the length of the inner side of breast pocket 6. In addition, the lower end 20 of band 12 is secured adjacent the upper edge of the front waist band 7 to the lower edge portion of breast pocket 5 inwardly of the contour moulding band 10. As will be seen in Fig. 6, the double-ply breast pocket 5 freely overlies the doubleply contour moulding band 12 except at their lower edges. The lower tab portion 18 is folded inwardly and upwardly along the inner surface of the bottom end of the contour moulding band 12 and a marginal portion of the double-ply pocket 5 is wrapped around the said inwardly folded lower end of said band 12. Here again the single-ply of tab 18 reduces the thickness of the folded over portion of the contour moulding band 12. The marginal tape 22 then covers the wrapped inner surface of the contour moulding band 12 and the assembly is secured together by a double row of stitching 23, the lower row of which also extends down to the upper edge of the front waist band 7 and jointly secures the lower overlapping edges of the breast pocket 5 and the contour molding band 12 to said upper edge of the waist band 7.

The upper end of each contour moulding band 10 and In addition, the lower end 20 of 12 and the apex of the breast pocket to which each contour moulding band is attached are secured to strap loops 25 at the forward end of shoulder straps 26. The lower end of each contour'moulding band is attached for a substantial width to the'upper edge of the waist band 7 and to the lower edge of the opposing breast pocket beyond the inner side of the breast contour moulding band secured along said opposing breast pocket.

With the elasticity of each breast contour moulding band being generally in lengthwise direction, an improved clinging efiect along the inner edge of each breast pocket is provided independently of the other. For example, if tension is applied through body movement to the lower region of either one of the breast pockets, particularly when bending forward, this tension is applied along the breast contour moulding band of the other pocket from its base overlying the first pocket to the apex of said other pocket, thereby causing said breast contour moulding band to cling to the contour of the underlying breast instead of producing a gaping bulge normally obtained by conventional brassieres under the same conditions.

What I claim is:

1. In a brassiere, a front waist band section, a first breast pocket secured at its base to the upper edge of said waist band section, a first side panel secured to the outer side of said first breast pocket, a first shoulder strap secured at one end to the upper end of said first breast pocket and at its other end to said first side panel, a second breast pocket secured at its base to the upper edge of said waist band section with the inner margin at its base substantially abutting the adjacent inner margin at the base of said first breast pocket, a second side panel secured to the outer side of said second breast pocket, a second shoulder strap secured at one end to the upper end of said breast pocket and at its other end to said second side panel, a separately formed first breast contour moulding band of substantially elongated triangular configuration defined by a first elongated side, a second elongated side and a third short side and having one elongated side secured along the full length of the inner edge of said first breast pocket so that the second elongated side is directed inwardly towards said second breast pocket, and its lower short side secured between the base of said first breast pocket and also secured to said first breast pocket, and its short side secured between the base of said second breast pocket and the upper edge of said front waist band section so that a lower portion of said first contour moulding band freely overlaps said second breast pocket inwardly of the adjacent marginal portion of said first breast pocket, and a separately formed second breast contour moulding band of substantially elongated, triangular configuration defined by a first elongated side, a second elongated side and a third short side, having one elongated side secured along the full length of the inner edge of said second breast pocket so that the second elongated side is directed inwardly towards said first breast pocket, its upper tapered end secured to a portion of the end of said second shoulder strap which is also secured to said second breast pocket pocket, and its lower short side secured between the base of said first breast pocket and the upper edge of said front waist band section along a common horizontal plane with the secured short side of said first contour moulding band so that a lower portion of said second contour moulding band freely overlaps said first breast pocket inwardly of the adjacent marginal portion of said second breast pocket, said first and second contour moulding bands having intermediate portions adjacent their respective lower portions freely crossing one another so that the full length of each contour moulding band is adjustable relative to the other and said first and second contour moulding bands being stretchable in a direction parallel to the second elongated side of each of said bands, respectively.

2. A brassiere as set forth in claim 1, in which each of said breast contour moulding bands comprises an elongated strip of elastic material shaped to provide two elongated slightly concave side edges on either side of a central fold line, said side edges tapering towards one end and flaring towards the opposite end, said last mentioned end presenting two abruptly tapering edges toward the adjacent end of said fold line in which one of said tapering end edges is inwardly offset with respect to the other, said strip being folded upon itself along said fold line to provide a substantially triangular shaped band including a substantially straight elongated side defined by said fold line, an elongated slightly concave side which is secured along the inner edge of a breast pocket and defined by the said concave side edge of said strip disposed in superimposed relation and a short side downwardly inclined from said concave side to said straight side, said short side being provided with a tab extension of single ply constituting that portion of one end of said strip extending beyond the said inwardly offset end edge portion, said tab being folded inwardly about the adjacent ply and upwardly of the end of said triangular band as a single ply thickness.

Rich Dec. 6, 1955 Kreiger May 22, 1956 

